Monday, 29 October 2012

I Think We're Alone Now

Plot: Documentary following two obsessed fans of 80's pop star "Tiffany" while exploring what it is about her which drives their obsession.

Review: Perhaps featuring one of the more random choices of subject to
follow, “I Think We’re Alone Now” follows two die hard fans / stalkers
of 80’s pop star Tiffany, who memorably promoted the single, whose title
the documentary shares by touring malls rather than singing at more traditional
venues and something which was also memorably parodied in “How I Met
Your Mother” with Robin Sparkles “Lets All Go To The Mall”.

The first of the two subjects we meet is Jeff Deane Turner, who is
also the more appealing of the two and whom in the 80’s had a 3 year
year restraining order placed against him by Tiffany, after he tried to
present her with a katana and five white chrysanthemums, something he
explains as being a very high honour in Japanese society. Needless to
say was not the same way it was interpretated at the time by her
security, as especially highlighted in one of the many newspaper cutting
that Jeff keeps along with essentially anything else associated with
his idol. A lot of his more random behaviour can be attributed to the
fact he has been diagnosed with Asperger’s and while well read and able
to talk at length on his favourite subjects, lacks any form of social
cues and hence never realises that perhaps not everyone is as interested
in his random facts about Tiffany that he is able to reel off on whim
as he is. Ultimately he is shown as being a friendly if frequently
misunderstood guy, whose other interests extend to conspiracy theories
and Radionics a random pseudo-science which he believes him to
telepathically communicate with Tiffany’s soul.

The other subjects here is Kelly McCormick, who lacks the likablitity
of Jeff and in many ways his polar opposite, as she is a depressed
introvert, which also makes her a harder person to initially connect to,
even more so when she speaks in such droning tones. Born intersex
McCormick is still in the process of tansitioning toward becoming
female, taking a dresser top full of various medications to further the
process. However despite this she is frequently referred to as being a
“He” or “Him” by those close to her such as her gay room mate, even
though McCormick frequently refers to herself as “her”.

While Turner’s interest seems to be more grounded in a friendship he
believes that he has with Tiffany, McCormick’s interest it would seem is
more of a romantic one, as when she is not running or talking about her
training regime, she is lusting over her, covering the walls of her
apartment with photos of her idol, while frequently conducting interview
segments from her couch with a framed photo resting on her shoulder,
while ultimately believing her only chance at happiness lies with being
with her idol and often acting like a scorned lover whenever denied a
chance to see her, as especially highlighted by her failed attempts to
get into one of Tiffany’s club gigs which leads her instead to a nearby
off licence so she can drink her frustration away.
Despite the fact that Tiffany only had two number one singles, before
sinking pretty much into obscurity, doesn’t seem to matter to either of
the two subjects, who would both seemingly be under the impression that
her career was bigger than it was, with both McCormick and Turner in
their own way believing that they share some kind of special connection
to her, which the other fans don’t have. Ultimately while sold on the
premise of following two of her stalkers, something which essentially
only refers to Turner, the documentary more interestingly provides us a
fascinating insight into “Erotomania” were the affected person believes
that a person is in love with them and reciprocating the feelings they
have for that person, which would especially be the case for Turner, who
frequently gives many of his encounters with Tiffany an alternative
spin, while proudly showing of his collection of books on the subject.

Director Sean Donnelly doesn’t go for anything too flashy here,
especially when title cards represent nothing more than names written on
cardboard seemingly held in front of the camera. Shot on handheld
camera, here he chooses to let his subjects do the talking, especially
with no voice over or narrative cards to help tell the story of what
fuels their obsession. Equally interesting is the noticeable lack of
music or stock Tiffany footage, no doubt the result of licensing costs.
Still she does still turn up here in several scenes though never
interviewed by Donnelly, as the times we see here is during a couple of
awkward encounters with both McCormick and Turner, with her encounter
with Turner at an erotica convention being one of her clearly at ease,
even more so when he acts as if they are lifelong friends.

While perhaps ill advised to encourage his subjects to further their
obsessions, Donnelly also finds himself in what could have very much
proved to have been a perfect storm, when McCormick and Turner meet up
in Las Vegas to share a hotel room while attending a Tiffany concert and
forming a kind of stalker version of “The Odd Couple”. Ultimately
though it is a situation which doesn’t occur and instead leads to more
of a disagreement than the kind of situation you would expect from two
stalkers room sharing.
At only an hour run time, doesn’t overstretch the material, while
ending on a positive note for both McCormick and Turner who seem to have
grown from the experience as we leave them both heading off in new
directions and ultimately more positive directions with their lives.
This is a strange, yet surprisingly also a moving documentary to say the
least and currently available through Snagfilms (as is the amazing Roller Derby Documentary “Hell On Wheels“, so why not take an hour out of your routine to watch something different.

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Owner of "From the Depths of DVD Hell" a love letter to the cinema I adore, with the main focus being to look away from the mainstream and instead look more in the direction of Cult, Foreign and Obsure cinema and everything that comes in between.

I try to add somthing new atleast once a week, but I'd rather keep this blog fun to write and so i'm not neglecting commitments outside of this blog.

About The Blog

Basically this is my love letter to the cinema I adore, with the main focus being to look away from the mainstream and instead look more in the direction of Cult, Foreign and Obsure cinema and everything that comes in between.This blog is also about keeping movie going fun and embracing the randomness, that can often be found, while also uncovering the occastional hidden great, often in the most unlikely of places.

I try to add somthing new atleast once a week, but I'd rather keep this blog fun to write and so i'm not neglecting commitments outside of this blog.

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